


A Safe Place

by CobaltStargazer



Series: Hiding In Plain Sight [9]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Feels, New Love(?)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2014-05-07
Packaged: 2018-01-23 21:19:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1579865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltStargazer/pseuds/CobaltStargazer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a rainy afternoon, Erin's feeling emotional, and Alex is there to help her through</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Safe Place

Rain pattered on the glassed-in door that led to the balcony. It had been drizzling steadily for most of the day, gray clouds obscuring the sun. Denver was chilly this time of year.

Alex and Erin were in bed, naked under the covers. They'd undressed and pulled the blankets up, then fallen into making out. Erin was on top, her weight wonderfully familiar. They'd been sleeping together for four months. Alex was attending an education seminar, and the blonde had manufactured an excuse to meet her there. Long, slow kisses were a counterpoint to hands sliding over warm flesh. With time, they had learned to really prolong it, with lots of foreplay.

But as good as it felt, Erin couldn't keep her mind on what she was doing, and after trying to maintain the mood, she rolled off and took up space on the other side of the bed. The television was on, but neither of them had been watching it. The blush glow was the only light in the room. 

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me today."

Beside her, Alex shifted so that she was lying on her side, and she touched the other woman's shoulder lightly. Erin sat up and rested her forearms on her knees, brushing aside the contact. She stared unseeingly at the flickering TV screen. Alex looked at the line of her back in the dimness.

"Talk to me, Erin. Please."

"I think my husband's getting suspicious."

It had been a risk even coming to Denver, but she'd craved Alex's company as a remedy for the growing tension at home. She felt the brunette move, sit up next to her. Brown eyes on her profile was like a physical touch.

"Are you all right? Did he..."

"He hasn't asked directly, but he has pressed me about all the time I'm spending away from home. I don't think he believes it's just work anymore."

And Alex had been waiting for this, bracing herself for the eventual questions. James was away so often himself that if she'd been so inclined she could have moved out while he was gone and he wouldn't have known it until he returned. The man Erin was married to was a different matter. The brunette touched the other woman's cloth-covered thigh. This time, Erin didn't pull away from her.

"Does he think it's me?"

"No." The blonde shook her head definitively. "if he did, he'd have said it by now. But he thinks it's _someone_."

Silence fell, and the muted sound of the television replaced their quiet conversation. Erin was reflecting on the past four months. She had been married for a long time, and she loved her family. But now there was Alex.Wonderful Alex, who made her happy. Her shoulders tightened when the realization hit her, and without knowing she'd been going to, she began to cry.

Alarmed, Alex put her arm around the blonde's shoulders, saying, "C'mon, lie down with me for a minute." Erin tried to fight free, and she added, "We're not going to d anything, I just want to talk. Come on, honey."

Reluctantly, the blonde lay back down, but once they were under the covers again, she put her arms around Alex's neck and clung to her. The linguist flattened her hands against the small of her lover's back. Breathed in how good she smelled and how well their bodies fit together. She hadn't intended for it to happen, but she had begun to need her. 

"He'll divorce me. He'll take the kids." Erin was still crying, the tears almost a relief. In the dark, she didn't have to be strong. Alex had started a slow rub at the base of the other woman's spine . She'd known something was wrong earlier, had done her best to massage the tension out of Erin's neck and shoulders, and she felt selfish and stupid for not trying to talk to her about it before this.

The brunette closed her eyes, and her arms tightened. She could barely ask the question she needed to ask, but she had to think of what Erin wanted to do. What she thought was necessary.

"Do you want...do you want this to stop? For _us_ to stop?"

'Us'.

It made the breath catch in Erin's throat, and despite her worries her spirits lifted a bit. The physicality of the relationship aside, there _was_ an emotional connection there, one that had sprung up perhaps in spite of their best intentions. Her arms tightened around Alex's neck, and she shook her head.

"No. _No_. I need you."

Not want, but 'need'. Alex's stomach did a back flip, then a graceful handstand. The television muttered on. "You never said that before," she said cautiously.

"You never said us before." Erin was no longer crying, but she sniffled quietly. Her fingers ran through Alex's long hair. She loved the way it looked spread out on a pillow. Alex's bare breasts moved as she took a deep breath.

"I will never let anyone hurt you because of me. That's not an option." The brunette's voice was very quiet, but she felt like she was yelling because she meant it that much. She turned her head sideways a bit, kissed a spot on Erin's neck. She wasn't horny anymore, but the feeling had been replaced by something deeper.

Erin was content to just lie there holding the brunette. The emotion she was feeling was so new that she hadn't had time to process it yet, but it _was_ recognizable to her. The seeds had been planted with that first kiss, and it had taken them a while to sprout, but it looked like they were about to blossom.

She was falling in love again, for the very first time.


End file.
